After back-to-back 7–2 seasons, fans held high hopes for the 1966 team. Sometimes you should be careful what you wish for.
The faculty's decision to deny Ohio State the Rose Bowl after the 1961 season continued to dog the program. Many top players in Ohio shied away from the Buckeyes as coaches from other schools used the Rose Bowl deferral against Woody Hayes in recruiting.
The loss of Ohio talent served as a critical blow to the 1966 season.
| The 1966 Buckeyes | |
|---|---|
| Record | 4–5 |
| B1G Record | 3–4, 6th |
| Coach | Woody Hayes (16th year, 101–38–7) |
| CaptainS | Mike Current, John Fill, Ray Pryor |
Games of Note
September 24th • TCU • Ohio Stadium
Senior halfback Will Thomas caught the opening kickoff of Ohio State's season at the 9-yard line. The burner broke free and appeared headed to the season's first touchdown. However, the turf monster caught him at the TCU 10. As he stumbled, a Horned Frog defender knocked the ball loose. Instead of being up 7-0, Ohio State's unexpectedly sent its defense to the field.
The sloppy play continued throughout the afternoon — the Buckeyes committed a total of five turnovers. Fortunately, they had Paul Hudson and Bill Long on their team.
Hudson rushed for 92 yards and two touchdowns in his first start at halfback. Long threw for 106 yards and completed 12-of-14 passes in the 14-7 victory. The Buckeyes took a 3–2–1 series lead against TCU.
| DATE | OPPONENT | LOCATION | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEP. 24 | TCU | OHIO STADIUM | W, 14–7 |
| OCT. 1 | WASHINGTON | OHIO STADIUM | L, 22–38 |
| OCT. 8 | ILLINOIS | MEMORIAL STADIUM | L, 9–10 |
| OCT. 15 | NO. 1 MICHIGAN ST. | OHIO STADIUM | L, 8–11 |
| OCT. 22 | WISCONSIN | OHIO STADIUM | W, 24–13 |
| OCT. 29 | MINNESOTA | MEMORIAL STADIUM | L, 7–17 |
| NOV. 5 | INDIANA | OHIO STADIUM | W, 7–0 |
| NOV. 12 | IOWA | IOWA STADIUM | W, 14–10 |
| NOV. 19 | MICHIGAN | OHIO STADIUM | L, 3–17 |
| 4–5, 108–123 |
October 1st • Washington • Ohio Stadium
Out of conference opponents continued to be a problem for Hayes and his team.
The Huskies rode Don Moore and Jeff Jordan to defeat Ohio State 38-22 on a rainy and cool day in Columbus.
In the first half, Jordan rushed for three short touchdowns to give Washington a 21-7 lead. Moore finished the game with 221 of his team's 413 rushing yards and also scored a touchdown.
The Huskies held the Buckeyes to 34 rushing yards and Jim Owens' team earned its first victory over Ohio State.
| OPPONENT | STREAK | RECORD |
|---|---|---|
| TCU | W1 | 3–2–1 |
| WASHINGTON | L1 | 3–1 |
| ILLINOIS | L1 | 33–18–4 |
| MICHIGAN STATE | L2 | 2–5 |
| WISCONSIN | W7 | 25–7–4 |
| MINNESOTA | L1 | 7–5 |
| INDIANA | W7 | 34–10–4 |
| IOWA | W4 | 17–10–2 |
| MICHIGAN | L1 | 22–37–4 |
October 8th • Illinois • Memorial Stadium
In Champaign after the disappointing loss to Washington, the Buckeyes led 9-3 late in the fourth quarter. Ohio State built its lead off of Gary Cairns' leg. His three field goals led to all nine points and the second — a 55-yarder — set a Big Ten record.
The game appeared in hand when Illinois faced 2nd-and-30 with time running short. That's when Bob Naponic hit wide receiver Johnny Wright on a slant for 41 yards. Naponic finished the drive with a 1-yard sneak and tied the game at 9. The Fighting Illini nailed the all-important conversion and handed Hayes his first loss in Champaign.
Some readers will remember this to be the only time Hayes lost in Memorial Stadium.
October 15th • #1 Michigan State • Ohio Stadium
No. 1 Michigan State represented the class of the Big Ten in 1966. The Spartans were the better team, but the crappy weather and scrappy Buckeyes made for a tough afternoon for the nation's top-ranked team.
Rain and 30 MPH winds deluged Ohio Stadium. Ohio State recorded the only points of the first half when MSU had a snap to its punter sail over his head and through the end zone.
The Spartans took their first lead on Dick Kenney's 27-yard field goal in the middle of the third quarter. Early in the fourth, Long found Bill Anders for a 47-yard scoring strike. After the conversion failed, the Buckeyes led 8-3.
With time winding down, Michigan State had the ball on its own 16. Reminiscent of the 1964 Buckeyes, the Spartans drove into Ohio State territory. Facing a 4th-and-goal inside the 1, fullback Bob Apisa burst through for the game-winning score. This marked the first — and last — three-game losing streak in Hayes' Ohio State tenure.
October 22nd • Wisconsin • Ohio Stadium
The Buckeyes faced Wisconsin trying to avoid their fourth consecutive loss. With Wisconsin up 13-10 in the fourth quarter, Ohio State came to life thanks to Hudson.
Ohio State's go-ahead score came with 4:19 left when Hudson capped off a 14-play 81-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown run. Hudson provided Ohio State with some insurance on an 8-yard score with 38 seconds remaining.
With the victory, Hayes continued his dominance over Wisconsin, pushing his record against them to 13–1–2.
October 29th • Minnesota • Memorial Stadium
Ohio State's rough season of miscues crept into Week 6, in Minneapolis. Ohio State committed two turnovers inside the Gophers' 5-yard line in the 17-7 loss.
The Buckeyes' record stood at 2–4 for the first time since 1947.
The following week was Dad's Day in Ohio Stadium against Indiana. This contest was not for fans who enjoyed scoring. The game's only points came when the Buckeyes opened the second half with a 59-yard touchdown drive.
The last time Ohio State defeated an opponent 7-0 was against Michigan in 1960.
November 13th • Iowa • Iowa Stadium
Iowa's new head coach Ray Nagel wanted to beat the Buckeyes in front of his home crowd.
The Hawkeyes took a 3-0 lead just more than four minutes into the second quarter. Five minutes later, Hudson gave Ohio State a 7-3 lead with a 4-yard scoring rush.
The back and forth continued in the fourth quarter. Ed Podolak found Barry Crees on 12-yard touchdown pass to put the Hawkeyes out front. Down 10-7, The Buckeyes answered when Long found Robert Rein on a 2-yard touchdown pass with 5:20 left.
The Silver Bullets stepped up with big stops. The first came after Iowa had 1st-and-goal from the 3-yard line. The Scarlet and Gray stonewalled them and took over on downs.
The Hawkeyes fought back and again drove inside Ohio State's 10 with less than two minutes left. Iowa went to the air on first and second down and had open receivers, but fortunately for the Buckeyes' secondary, they dropped the ball each time in the end zone.
After an incomplete pass on third down, Mark Stier intercepted the fourth down pass and Ohio State held out to push its record to 4–4.
November 20th • Michigan • Ohio Stadium
Michigan (5–4) came out fighting and drove inside Ohio State's 20 three times in the early going. But the Buckeyes dodged a bullet each time; Michigan only came away with a 3-0 advantage.
Cairns tied the game at three with a 24-yard field goal. From there, it was all Jim Detwiler and the Wolverines. Michigan scored two touchdowns and Detwiler rushed for 140 yards and one of the scores in the 17-3 victory.
Even though the Wolverines outplayed Ohio State, Hayes blamed the officials for his team's loss. He came 40 minutes late to his postgame press conference. From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
"As far as I'm concerned, there were two critical points," said the red-faced and irate coach after keeping newsmen waiting for 40 minutes.
"The first was when they stopped us on the fourth down and six inches (at the Michigan 38) on our first drive.
"The other was that lousy call by the referee in the second half," continued Hayes. "The officials who were in position and should have made the call, didn't."
Then Woody really unloaded.
"That referee (Eugene Calhoun) will never work another game with which I'm associated. It was a really lousy call," he repeated. "And yes, you can quote me."
Actually, there were two Ohio State clipping penalties charged in the early minutes of the second half, and each nullified a healthy gain.
One came following a Michigan punt, and the other on the Buckeyes' first series of downs.
Although Hayes didn't specify which one he thought was wrong, he insisted that the offender, Mike Current, was not guilty.
"It was a great block . . . it was a fabulous effort," praised Woody. "There was nothing wrong with it -- only that the official not in position called it. It was disgusting."
The referees played a part in the loss, but the real fire behind Hayes' words could have been because the Michigan players that made a difference in the game were from Ohio.
The Buckeyes now trailed the all-time series 22–37–4.
1966 Recap
- Ohio State defeated TCU to take a 3–2–1 series lead.
- Washington held the Buckeyes to 34 rushing yards and won 38-22.
- Hayes lost at Illinois for the first and last time.
- No. 1 Michigan State defeated Ohio State 11-8. This marked the last time Hayes lost three straight games.
- The Buckeyes defeated Wisconsin for the seventh consecutive time.
- Two fumbles inside the 5-yard line contributed to the 17-7 loss at Minnesota.
- Ohio State improved to 34–10–4 against Indiana.
- The Buckeyes defense secured a 14-10 win over Iowa.
- Michigan scored 14 unanswered points to win in Columbus. Ohio State fell to 22–37–4 in the series.
- The '66 team was never ranked in the AP Poll.
- Ray Pryor was named All-American.
- Mike Current, Bo Rein and Ron Sepic were selected in the NFL Draft.
Hayes' second losing season brought out the naysayers, and some called for his job.
The real culprit to the down years was that the top players from the great state of Ohio enrolled in schools other than Ohio State. In 1966, Hayes and his staff made a decision to start recruiting outside of Ohio and the fruits of their labor soon quieted the detractors.
